Alumni and supporter care officer jobs

Royal National Children's SpringBoard Foundation (“SpringBoard”)  

Programme Support Officer 

About the Foundation 

RNCSF (“SpringBoard”)’s vision is to provide access to a great education for young people facing some of the most complex and challenging circumstances. By harnessing the power of fully funded bursary placements and targeted outreach activities available in the UK’s state and independent boarding schools and independent day schools, we seek to transform individual young lives, and in turn we aim to create a sustained ‘ripple-effect’ of growing aspirations and achievements across under-served communities and marginalised groups.

Since 2012 we have supported more than 1,500 young people to access the life-transforming opportunities provided by fully funded bursary places, working with more than 200 participating boarding and independent schools united under the shared commitment to build more diverse, inclusive and representative school environments. We have ambitious plans to ensure that 2,000 young people are supported by our work by 2025, through extending our Department for Education sponsored work in independent day schools. 

Our strategic aims 

Our network of schools is at the heart of all that we do. We harness boarding and independent schools’ commitment to using their educational environments as an engine of social mobility, coordinating a sector-wide effort to target schools’ bursary and partnerships schemes for those who most need access to these opportunities.

We do so by: 

• Identifying children and young people facing complex and challenging home circumstances, for whom a fully funded bursary at an independent or state boarding school or an independent day school represents a life-transforming opportunity 

• Influencing schools to make available more fully funded bursary places; and matching children and young people who we identify through our programmes to the schools best suited to their needs and interests and providing support to ensure they thrive through their placements 

• Encouraging young people leaving school to realise their ambitions, navigate fulfilling careers and make positive contributions in their communities through a vibrant alumni network programme 

• Ensuring targeted access to other educational opportunities available in independent school partnerships programmes for children and young people who are looked-after, or on the ‘edge of’ care but for whom bursary placements are not possible. 

To do so we have a fundraising strategy to secure c.£2 million p/a in donations, used to help to unlock schools’ own efforts to fund as many bursary places and partnership offerings as possible.

The return on the Foundation’s Capital Fund covers the costs of our small team of 14 individuals. We are ably supported in this endeavour by the involvement of our committed Royal Patron, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal and an impressive and diverse body of dedicated and enthusiastic Trustees. 

Purpose of the role  

You will support the Head of SpringForward in managing a growing independent school- local authority partnership mentoring programme. This programme promotes partnerships between independent schools and Local Authorities that ensure that children in care can access opportunities for tailored mentoring by independent schoolteachers to help address some of their achievement and attainment gaps, and be supported to secure offers for a university or apprenticeship route on leaving school. 

Key responsibilities  

You will work with the Head of SpringForward to support successful management of day-to-day operations of the programme; including but not limited to:

• onboarding and engagement of volunteer independent schoolteacher mentors;

• liaising with school coordinators and overseeing overall school participation;

• liaising with Local Authority partners and updating on pupil engagement;

• supporting mentors in delivery of mentoring, quality assurance including monitoring of session reports, updating resources). 

You will work with Head of SpringForward to review, implement and refine impact measurement, collecting survey data and feedback, review the outcomes and supporting continuous improvement of programme design and to communicate with new schools and LAs the programme’s benefits. 

You will be held accountable for upholding the highest levels of safeguarding practice in implementation of the mentoring programme, including updating and maintaining safeguarding records for volunteers. 

You will be responsible for writing reports on progress and outcomes for the charity’s senior leadership, trustees and the wider partnership community. 

If seeking additional responsibilities/hours, this role could also include elements of wider communications support - including updating the charity’s website and social media content, collecting impact stories and sharing weekly content on school visits, donor engagement and key newsworthy items relevant to the work of RNCSF. 

Person specification 

Qualities, Attitudes and Values

• Strong and demonstrable commitment to RNCSF’s vision, mission, values and policies, including safeguarding and protection of children & equal opportunities 

• A passion for working with children and young people from diverse backgrounds and putting them at the heart of our work

• Flexible, adaptable, resourceful and resilient to manage changing priorities and a willingness to lead with a degree of autonomy 

• Effective relationship builder, with strong emotional intelligence and experience of co—production methods and working in collaborative environments to improve learning 

Skills

• Strong verbal and written communication skills

• Highly effective organisational, administrative, data management and IT skills, including strong attention to detail 

Knowledge

• Of the UK education sector and children’s social care landscape

• Of working in a grant-making or funding organisation and meeting reporting requirements 

Experience

• Of managing projects to differing timescales 

• Of building productive relationships within a small team/across teams and with external stakeholders 

• Of equitable and inclusive approaches to working with young people 

Benefits of working for RNCSF 

• You will join a small team of 14 diverse, friendly and enthusiastic staff who are united by a passion to tackle educational inequality together and grow professionally and personally along the way.

• We offer flexible working hours and the opportunity to work condensed hours

• We encourage and enable home-working, we are a trusting employer and we actively promote work-life balance

• A culture of living our values: child-centred, optimistic, acting with integrity, with a focus on continuous improvement and working collaboratively

• The breadth of work requires an ability to adapt and understand new ways of working quickly – there are busy points throughout the year but there is a real ‘rhythm’ which mirrors school term-times and so there is scope for contracted hours that reflect this rhythm around school holidays 

Terms and Conditions  

Hours: This is a 0.6 role, with the option to do 0.8 with additional cross-programme responsibilities (e.g. RNCSF communications and social media support). 

Reports to: Laura Slater, Head of SpringForward

Annual Salary range: £27,500 - £32,500 (FTE. Pro-rata for reduced hours) 

Start date: Immediately 

Location:  Hybrid. Expected to work from our offices (at EdCity, west London) on Mondays and Thursdays. Remote working on other days

Benefits: 30 days holiday (pro-rata) 

Auto-enrolment in the NEST pension scheme (details available on request)   

Right to Work: All applicants must have the right to work in the UK

Given the responsibilities of this role the offer of employment will be conditional on an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) Check. You are required to declare any criminal convictions ahead of this DBS Check.  

Diversity and Inclusion  

We are committed to cultivating a fair and inclusive environment, where everyone can be themselves and thrive.  We especially encourage applications from people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQ+ people, people with disabilities, those with lived experience of our programmes, and people who have experienced forms of exclusion or marginalisation. We welcome applications from SpringBoard alumni and those with lived experience. 

How to Apply  

• Please submit a cover letter and complete CV through the CharityJob portal, please explain any gaps in your employment or education history   

• Your cover letter should answer the following questions and be no longer than 1 ½ A4 sides:  

1. Why do you want to be part of the Royal National Children’s SpringBoard Foundation team?  

2. Give examples of how you meet the experience, skills and technical competencies set out in this Job Description and Person Specification.   

Application deadline: 11:30pm on 27th November 2025 

Successful candidates will be notified that they have been selected for interview by Friday 28th November 2025. Interviews will be held on Thursday 4th December 2025 in person at our offices in EdCity, 1 EdCity Walk, London, W12 7TF.

Safeguarding  

RNCSF is committed to safeguarding all children and young people we work and interact with. We take this responsibility seriously, with the focus being on their safety and welfare. As we are a small team, it is likely all our employees will have some interaction with children and young people we work with, whether at an event or through our youth engagement work and therefore all offers of employment are conditional on referencing and DBS checks and all employees are required to take part in regular safeguarding training. For more information please refer to our Safeguarding Policy.   

Safer Recruitment 

In line with this policy: 

1. You will be asked to bring two documents to the interview: one to serve as proof of identity (e. g. valid passport or driver’s license) and one to serve as proof of address (e. g. bank statement, council tax, credit card statement from the last three months).

2. We will usually contact one of your referees prior to interview so please indicate on your application which of your referees you are happy for us to contact or if you have any concerns about our doing so, please let us know. 

Applications are invited for the post of Senior Regular Giving Officer within the Philanthropy and Alumni Engagement team at Royal Holloway, University of London.

This is an exciting opportunity for a proactive and creative fundraising professional to lead on the planning, delivery, and evaluation of regular giving and legacy campaigns. Reporting to the Philanthropy Manager, you will play a key role in increasing philanthropic income for the For What Matters Fund, supporting students facing financial hardship and promoting equality of opportunity.

With a strong focus on data-led strategy, you will develop compelling digital and print fundraising appeals, implement stewardship journeys, and drive donor acquisition and retention. You will also take responsibility for growing our legacy giving programme and contribute to the university’s wider philanthropic strategy.

We're looking for someone with a successful track record in fundraising or marketing communications, excellent writing skills, strong data and CRM experience, and a passion for making a tangible impact in higher education.

If you thrive in a collaborative, purpose-driven environment and are excited by the opportunity to engage supporters in meaningful ways, we’d love to hear from you.

In return we offer a highly competitive rewards and benefits package including:

• Generous annual leave entitlement 
• Training and Development opportunities
• Pension Scheme with generous employer contribution 
• Various schemes including Cycle to Work, Season Ticket Loans and help with the cost of Eyesight testing. 
• Free parking 

The role, based in Egham, Surrey where the University is situated in a beautiful, leafy campus near to Windsor Great Park and within commuting distance from London. Some remote working is possible for this role.  

Please quote the reference: 1025-269

Closing Date:  23:59, 19 November 2025

Interview Date: Wednesday 26 November 2025